# Is pool a sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 24, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622 "2014-01-24T16:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/22 "2014-01-28T05:01:07Z")
It is a game of skill. Not all games are sports, even “pro” ones. runner pat, can you please tell us how driving a car is physically demanding? I can buy that the excitement can raise your heart rate, but so can video games, and no one is nominating me for Athlete of the Year. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/23 "2014-01-28T05:11:34Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > It is a game of skill. Not all games are sports, even “pro” ones. > runner pat, can you please tell us how driving a car is physically demanding? I can buy that the excitement can raise your heart rate, but so can video games, and no one is nominating me for Athlete of the Year. Here’s a decent article on [the demands](http://formula1.about.com/od/drivers/a/Abcs-Of-A-Formula-1-Drivers-Physical-Fitness.htm) of Formula One racing. > [@](#): > > As the technology of racing cars has changed, so have the physical demands on a driver’s body. In the past, a driver had mostly to be strong in the shoulders and forearms in order to handle the steering and change gears. Now there is power steering, but advances in aerodynamic grip have created considerable G-forces during a car’s high-speed cornering, as have the braking with the carbon brakes. That makes demands most of all on a driver’s neck, as his head will be up to five times heavier than its usual weight and the driver has to keep it upright. His legs are solicited with heavy pounding on the brakes, which demand a sudden force of more than 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds. Racing motorcycles have a high demand as you don’t have such things as power steering and you have to muscle the bike around. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/24 "2014-01-28T06:07:40Z")
[Motocross racing.](http://www.racerxvt.com/virtual_trainer/Dr_A_heart_rate.html) [Road racing](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18409099)(motorcycle). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/25 "2014-01-28T17:40:06Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > My general rule-of-thumb for “is it a sport or a game?” discussions is to find out it improved physical conditioning improves your performance. I’m not sure that works any more. (If it ever worked.) The benefits of physical fitness in staving off physical _and mental_ fatigue are so widely recognized that one hears even chess players speaking of their fitness regimen. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/26 "2014-01-28T18:04:05Z")
Not according to [George Carlin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_oOLQi5-is).\* \*Link to Youtube video with NSFW language. FF to 3:06 for explanations of why certain things aren’t sports. In the world according to Carlin. 🙂 FF to 5:45 for Billiards/Pool. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/27 "2014-01-28T18:09:53Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > In poker, real life play differs from online greatly in that there are many ways to bluff, read faces, intimidate, etc. that could not be done over a computer. Would you consider real life poker a sport? You can play real life, in person, poker with computer simulations of the cards. The physical form of the cards and chips is completely irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/28 "2014-01-28T18:33:49Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > You can play real life, in person, poker with computer simulations of the cards. The physical form of the cards and chips is completely irrelevant. I know that. However, I mentioned things that are very important to poker play IRL can’t be simulated on a computer. I would consider those things “preexisting systems.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/29 "2014-01-28T21:17:12Z")
Pool becomes a sport when Minnesota Fats cons you into playing for 25 hours. > **[The Hustler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hustler_%28film%29)** > > The Hustler is a 1961 sports drama film, directed by Robert Rossen. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats". > The film, which was based on the 1959 book of the same name by Walter Tevis, stars Paul Newman as Fast Eddie, Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats, Piper Laurie as Sarah, George C. Scott as Bert, and Myron McCormick as Charlie. > The Hustler was a major critical and popular success, gaining a reputation as a m... > [@](#): > > Eddie gets ahead $11,000 and Charlie tries to convince him to quit, but Eddie insists the game will end only when Fats says it is over. Fats agrees to continue after Bert labels Eddie a “loser.” After 25 hours and an entire bottle of bourbon, Eddie is ahead over $18,000, but loses it all along with all but $200 of his original stake. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/30 "2014-01-28T21:26:29Z")
Minnesota Fats did have an interesting point. Beating him once meant nothing. What mattered in his view was who had the most money after playing all night. But, playing for 25 hours is just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/31 "2014-01-31T18:24:01Z")
Pool is a sport. It’s a fairly piss-poor relative of snooker, but it’s a sport. You’ll never see anything in pool that compares to this moment in snooker: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/M3C7I5lRZII/hqdefault.jpg "Ronnie O'Sullivan fastest 147 break (5:20)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3C7I5lRZII) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/32 "2014-02-02T03:08:09Z")
Pool falls into a class of activities which requires physical accuracy more than endurance. Such as: Shooting Archery Curling Darts Pool Billiards Bowling Another common aspect of some of these activities is that they require a lot of strategy as well. Pool and Billiards are certainly heavy on strategy. Curling to a lesser extent. Shooting and Archery, not so much. Are they sports? That’s impossible to say, since a ‘sport’ is an ill-defined concept in the first place. If inclusion in the Olympics defines something as a sport, then I’d say that since shooting, archery and curling are Olympic sports, that makes billiards and pool a sport as well, even if they’re not in the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/33 "2014-02-02T03:39:20Z")
To me it doesn’t meet the test of requiring enough physical activity, but it does pass the defense test (which is far more important), so I could possibly be swayed. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/34 "2014-02-02T04:02:41Z")
Pool requires every bit as much physical activity as shooting, and there are several shooting sports in the Olympics. I guess you could argue that Archery has more of a physical requirement, but it still shares a key requirement - the ability to make your body do something incredibly precise. Or look at it this way: To play pool or billiards at a high level, you have to have absolute mastery over your reflexes, your nerves, your stance, your swing… You need very good eyesight and a high degree of awareness of what your body is doing. A pool player making a shot is doing something very similar to what a shooter does when making a shot. Both require about the same level of physical intensity, which is not insubstantial. Actually, I’d consider pool to be more physically intense, because you have to control your body while going through substantial motion. Shooting sports mainly require the ability to focus and remain still. Pool requires control of your body through the motion of the cue. What it doesn’t require is endurance, which is why you can find world-class shooters and pool players who don’t look ‘athletic’. But I guarantee you they are still engaged in an athletic activity - just one that requires a different set of physical abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622/35 "2014-02-03T00:40:44Z")
Pool/Snooker are as much sports as golf is. Golf is basically just snooker with a different shaped ‘cue’ and a bigger ‘table’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pool-a-sport/679622.md?page=1)